I�ve been really quite productive over the past several days. I did all that cooking on Saturday, did laundry on Sunday, made bisque Monday, visited Andy on the same day, made alfredo and wonderful pumpkin pancakes yesterday as well as folding and putting away the laundry and have a couple of things yet to do this week, not counting the weeding through of magazines in the house.

Ever since Luke has started doing magazines at work, it seems like the house is overflowing. It used to be that we only regularly bought one and picked up one or two others when they looked interesting. Now, it seems as if we have every damned periodical under the sun in this house (except for the porn, which neither of us is no longer interested in). We have cooking magazines both for me and to give to the relatives when we see them next, computer magazines to both give away and keep, political rags for Luke, video game mags, quilting and knitting ones, music like crazy, and more that I can�t even begin to detail. I can�t help but feel completely inundated at times. There are magazines in piles for me that I vaguely remember being told about, but I know that I will neither have the time nor the interest to read at least half of them. I told Luke that I feel bad throwing them out without reading them, thinking that they are essentially gifts and gifts aren�t something you just toss, but his thinking is different. He figures that if he sees something he thinks I�ll like, he�ll bring it home for me to read or toss at my discretion and he won�t feel anything about it.

We didn�t really get much info about Andy�s first foray into the seedy world of strip clubs. He said the bachelor had his underwear ripped off by three strippers in something called an Atomic Wedgie, in which he was still wearing his pants when the underwear was removed, Andy got a lap dance in the back room and didn�t have any accidents, and he said the night was the best $60 he�s ever spent, to which I responded with �You�re an idiot.� The guy doesn�t like Hooters because he says it objectifies women, but he now gives shining endorsements to women taking off their clothes for a few bucks? Sometimes I just don�t know what to say to him when things like that come up. I have to do like Luke says and learn to ignore him.

I�ve finally got all the design problems I was having out of the way and I�m really quite pleased with myself. Luke made something up for later on and I tweaked it to make it work essentially the way he wanted it to. Seeing as tables tend to suck even more than any other layout tool, it was a feat of sorts. I�m really starting to like designing again. I liked it in the beginning because it was a new thing that I could do, but now I like it because I can actually do it and do it well with minimal, if any, help from others.

Oddly, I have completely calmed down about the money situation. I suppose that having been so domestic the past few days helps to ease my agitation. I realize that things will work themselves out and I just have to wait for that to happen. Never have we reached crisis time and been unable to do anything about it. This is one of those times and I have to let it go where it will. I think that the weather is also helping. Summer makes me cranky because it�s too hot and sticky and a/c eats electricity like Grendel eats villagers and you can only take so much clothing off before you start to feel like a fool. So, with the weather hitting the 20s at night and 40s-50s during the day, I can bundle up or turn on the heat without worrying because the complex covers the heat. I do have to admit that the bedroom window is still open despite the freezing overnight temperatures. There is little that is more pleasant than waking up under a pile of comforters with the air around you chilly. I could have done without the wind rattling the sash this morning, but that did little to kill my calm. I almost didn�t get out of bed because it was so lovely. The only thing lovelier would have been to have my boy in with me, but he can�t have every day off.